BB day 68

Paul won the POV as expected and saved himself. Victor is the one targeted for eviction on Thursday. But as long as Paul is around he's still on the fast track for the $500 K.

‘Big Brother 18’ Spoilers: Week 9 Veto Ceremony Results
By: Matthew Boyer | August 22, 2016 at 2:36 PM EDT
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This week’s Veto Ceremony was held today to give us our final Big Brother 18 noms of the week and we now have the latest Big Brother spoilers for our Week 9 Power of Veto events.

Power of Veto Medallion on Big Brother

With the Veto results in on Saturday we knew to expect a change but no one seemed ready to settle on a plan, especially not the HG calling the shots here. But the time has come to make a choice and we have the results.

Power of Veto Ceremony Results – Week 9:

Paul decided to use the Veto on himself
Michelle renom’d Corey
Corey & Victor are this week’s final noms

Michelle had been wavering on either renom’ing Corey or Nicole as she really wanted Nicole out but knew the others wanted Corey up since Victor was really the target. Now it’s done and set.

Immediately after the meeting Victor and Paul were discussing seeing the other side getting together and that’s making them nervous. Michelle was upstairs telling Natalie and they’re saying they’ll play dumb, act like Corey was their target, but then blindside Victor. So there’s another confirmation of Victor as this week’s target.

What do you think of Michelle’s decision. Is there any chance we’ll see this renom evicted or is James too set on getting Victor out the door to be swayed? Natalie has suggested she has that power over James, but I’m not so convinced in this situation.


Monday, August 22, 2016
Did Natalie Just Ruin Her 'Big Brother 18' Game?
Derek Stauffer

Contributing Writer, BuddyTV

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Natalie has been a very interesting player in Big Brother 18. Though she appears for all intents and purpose to be the consummate floater, Natalie has repeatedly shown to have much more game savvy than her bubbly personality would initially suggest. Natalie's biggest problem in Big Brother 18 hasn't been a plethora of stupid moves. It's been that she hasn't been a position to make any moves.

In week 9, it finally happened however. Natalie won Head of Household and though she shares responsibilities with Michelle, so far Natalie has been in the real place of power. Unfortunately, Natalie's first real big power move might have inadvertently sunk her own game. Has Natalie ruined her chances at winning Big Brother 18 by targeting Victor and Paul?


Big Brother 18 Recap: A Big Lie Leads to Another Alliance Shift >>>

The Hubris of Power

It's not really a problem that Natalie went after Paul. With Paulie gone (and his game destroyed) Paul is in the best position to win the entire game. Paul's good at competitions, he has probably the best social game in the house and he's smart. Victor might be just some doofy muscle who can win the occasional competition but Paul is bonafide threat. If Natalie, or anyone in the house for that matter, has a chance of winning Big Brother 18 they can not go up against Paul in the end.

The issue, and the factor that may sink Natalie's game, is that she wasn't smart about how she went after Paul. The reason that Paul has played such a good game in Big Brother 18 is that he has always managed to cover his bases. Though Paul was instrumental in getting rid of both Da'Vonne and Paulie Paul managed to keep those evictees' trust up until the moment they walked out the door. Paul's just as much a snake as Nicole in that regard but unlike Nicole Paul's smart about manipulating people.

Natalie didn't seem to learn Paul's lesson when targeting him for eviction. At the nomination ceremony Natalie and "student of the game" Michelle made no secret of the fact that they wanted Paul out of the house. This would be a fine move if this nomination was after the Power of Veto and the votes were definitely there to get rid of Paul. It's not the case though. While Natalie and Michelle may have the votes, they do not have the other. Paul can easily win the PoV pull himself off and can easily go after Natalie.

Plus even if Victor is ultimately evicted, he has yet another chance to get back into the house with the Battle Back something he easily accomplished before. There is a very real chance that all Natalie will have done with HoH reign is make two very dangerous enemies.

Never Trust Nicole

Natalie's biggest blunder of her HoH stint (so far) is formalizing an alliance with Nicole and Corey. On paper it's not a terrible idea. Nicole and Corey can serve as very vital votes at important evictions. No one, with the exception of maybe Paulie, is going to vote for them to win. They are good pawns to have in your corner. Well at least Corey is a good pawn.

Corey is not smart or competent enough to anybody's idea of a threat in Big Brother 18. Corey is a complete waste of muscle having only done something to impact the game and win a competition in the Double Eviction. Corey is also as loyal the dogs that he loves, Nicole is another story entirely.

Big Brother 18 Spoilers: Who Won the Week 9 Power of Veto? >>>

Let's put aside that one of the sole reasons that Natalie has marked Paul for eviction is because of a lie that Nicole told. That lie is really the least of Nicole Big Brother 18 crimes. Nicole has broken every alliance she has had in the house with the exception of Corey. As much as Paul has deftly played both sides of the house, if he has a formal allaince with someone he is loyal. He did betray Paulie but Paulie did break Paul's trust long before Paul played a part in evicting him.

There doesn't even need to be an advantage for Nicole to turn on her alliance members. Nicole just has to perceive an advantage. There is not a single person that Nicole has not tattled on to someone else in the house. In a house full of self-serving people trying to win a game, Nicole is, by far, the least trustworthy. It's hard to call Nicole a threat because she is nearly as useless as Corey in competitions but she is definitely a liability.

Natalie has traded her trustworthy allies of Victor and Paul for the dubious Nicole and Corey. Paul and Victor who are threats to win but they're sill valuable enough to benefit Natalie (and James) in the short run. There are no real benefits to keeping Nicole and Corey around for any amount of time, even if they are hypothetically easy to beat in the end. Natalie's best bet at winning is to dump her alliance with Nicole and Corey, preferably evict one of them, and beg forgiveness from Victor and Paul. Only when she is sure that she can evict either Victor or Paul is when Natalie (or any of her allies) should go after theml but not a second before.

But what do you think? Did Natalie blow her first big power play? Do you think she made any mistakes? What would you do in Natalie's position? Is Paul the biggest threat in Big Brother 18?

Paul won the POV as expected and saved himself. Victor is the one targeted for eviction on Thursday. But as long as Paul is around he's still on the fast track for the $500 K.